Bahotu

Bahotu

As a wise man once said “It is harder to eat the rabbits head then to eat the chickens feet.” Today M-Unit and I decided that because we had already conquered the feet of the chicken – having eaten it in several forms from spicy restaurant made to straight from a vacuum sealed packet that we picked up from the supermarket – we were now ready to tackle the head of the rabbit. Our partners from ThoughWorks must have either agreed with us that we were culinary warriors, or they saw it a a good opportunity to have a laugh as we struggled with this exotic dish. Either way they took us to Bahotu, a restaurant that specialises in everything rabbit.

Bahotu

So as per normal we took a seat at the restaurant while our Chinese friends picked up the menu. Without the aid of English menu items or any pictures, ordering for yourself in China is what I like to refer to as culinary Russian Roulette. Around 15 mins the dishes start to arrive, and in true Chinese NFA (No insert expletive Around) style the first thing out the door is two big bowls of Spicy Sichuan Rabbit Head smelling delicious yet looking mean!

My nemesisRabbit Head Platter

As I had already made a promise to myself that I was going to embrace being in China and see it as a chance to try new things and grow, I decided that I could not back down. I put on my eating glove (it is common to eat this dish with your hands as it is a battle to pry all the meat, tongue, brain and eyes away from the skull with just chopsticks) and picked up first victim. I was staring at him and he was staring straight back. It was an unnerving experience, who was going to crack first? I grabbed him. One hand around his lower jaw and the other around his upper jaw all the while his hard little rabbit teeth digging into my hand. Then the a mighty crack I broke him in two and started eating the newly separated piece of meat and bone. To my amazement it was delicious. It was spicy and tender and all the strange unidentifiable bits of “head filling” added a distinct and unusual flavour. After finishing this one I went on to have 2 more rabbit heads, I simply couldn’t get enough!

I left the restaurant thinking “I might start my own Bahotu franchise in Brisbane. It will be great! People would come from miles around to get their rabbit head fix.” Wishful thinking? Maybe. But I know that I am going to miss it when I am gone.

Anyway I am going to signed out now because I am all of a sudden I have a strange urge to eat and fight at the same time.